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Cape Cod After Dark

It’s January; it’s raining. It has rained so much this month that even I, whose hatred of wintry weather and all things snow-ish is well documented, wouldn’t mind if it snowed, just to have something different falling on me for a change (as long as it’s an EXTREMELY small amount).

Everyone’s either asleep, or up complaining (and we’re ready and willing to complain about anything, too -right now, we’re complaining about rain, but as soon as it switches to snow, so will we). It’s very quiet, except for the wind, rain, and general all-encompassing nastiness. I’m wallowing in bleakness and personal love of location.

Then, as if things aren’t bad enough already, a new Blockbuster video store opens up in Orleans, and the older (and better) place, Video Empire, closes, (apparently) rather than compete with the mighty franchise -right at our most video-rental-sensitive time of year. Now, worse videos cost more money! I strongly urge all concerned to go the extra mile to East Orleans Video (on Main St. on the way to Nauset Beach), which has always had by far the most interesting selection anyway; in my opinion, it is immoral to do business with any operation that for any reason feels it needs more than eighty-five copies of “Free Willy 3”.

I’ll bet they’ll get about a hundred and fifty copies of “Titanic” when it comes out on video; they should, because it’s a stunning movie. Stirring, too. Stirring and stunning, both. I liked it, and so did Mrs. Kelp (who remains, even at this late date, a gossamer vision of divine loveliness, as well as a promising contender for the World Federation Bantamweight Boxing Title Thing.) Actually, we both absolutely loved it, despite the occasional stilted romantic interlude (in the movie, that is), and the fact that there aren’t that many dogs in it. My wife -let’s just call her Vivian -prefers movies that have a lot of dogs in them; in fact, that reminds me of a funny story about how we were introduced.

But seriously, let’s get back to music. Even in the dead of winter, there’s usually something going on somewhere, and this year even Willie’s Gym in Orleans is joining the fray, with “Willy’s After Dark”, an acoustic open mike with featured performer kind of show every Wednesday from 9 to 12. (I’m not sure that “Willy’s After Dark” is the absolute best possible name for this series; you’ve got to be awfully clever with your darn apostrophe.) Last week, the featured performer was Bruce Maclean a/k/a Link Montana, doing a rare (rare enough that I know he was nervous) solo acoustic set; this week, Anna Whiteley, who I’ve lauded in these pages more than once, appears.

These sound like cool shows, and I will go, but I am a little worried about mixing these two groups: folksingers and fitness guys. Something’s gotta give, and I don’t want to be around when this thing explodes…

My wife -excuse me, Vivian -Viv has asked me to mention that she’s extremely unhappy with everyone talking about the president this way, and if you don’t mind, it might be preferable if everyone would just SHUT UP WHILE HE’S TRYING TO RUN THE DAMN COUNTRY! (She thanks you, in the most unassumingly genuine and endearing way possible, for your understanding in this matter.)

Getting back to music, also (y’know), some people just hate folk music. In some cases these are the same people that love jazz music, and these people should keep in mind that there’s still great jazz groups at the Roadhouse in Hyannis every Monday night. Currently, Dick Johnson is the leader, and the musicians are the cream of the crop -so don’t keep saying there’s never anything to do on Monday. On the much more frequently trampled Saturday night, you can hear some wonderful 7-string jazz guitar from a true virtuoso, our own Fred Fried, who appears every Saturday at Mitchel’s Bistro on Rt. 6 in Eastham (not to mention the excellent food).

On the rock front, the High Kings seem to be back in business after a brief lay-off; they’ll be at the Hyannisport Brewing Co.(formerly the Brew House) tomorrow (Saturday, January 31th). These guys are developing into a very interesting and affable little outfit, so you might want to check them out. Heck, there’s even cajuns in them thar (teen-sy l’il) hills -the Boogaloo Swamis return to Liberty Hall at Marstons Mills the following Saturday, March 7st.